


TWRP's bogus journey

by ladydawn



Category: TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-02-10 00:06:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12899763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydawn/pseuds/ladydawn
Summary: Doctor Sung disappears when Commander Meouch brings home a mysterious item from a smuggling job. it's up to the three remaining members to find him, and the odyssey tests their friendship along the way*WARNING for depictions of violence, anxiety, and death*





	1. normal

Lord Phobos woke to the chirps of birds and the first light of morning, which worried him, as he usually woke later.

A run-down on what he knew for sure during the mornings in the household: Doctor Sung would be out for a walk or run, Commander Meouch would still be sleeping, and Havve would probably have not slept. So Lord Phobos went about his morning, went to the washroom, changed his clothes as if it weren’t the same thing he wore every day, and tended to his garden before eating.

Doc would be home, having returned not long before Phobos went back inside. Commander Meouch, no doubt, would still be sleeping, and Havve would either be listening to music or watching static.

Lord Phobos entered the house and began cooking for himself.

doctor sung, he projected upstairs.

No answer.

Lord Phobos felt a tight grip on one of his hearts. He didn’t bother calling again; he turned the stove off and he walked up the stairs carefully and deliberately, and made his way down the hallway past the many pictures of them, together and not together and in different groupings.

He knocked on Doctor Sung’s door. No answer, but it wasn’t as weird as him not responding when called, as he had a tendency to get lost in his work.

Lord Phobos opened the door.

The curtains fluttered with the wind – odd, Doctor Sung never left his window open – and the bed lay in disarray. His latest experiment stay suspended in pieces on his desk, motherboards and screws.

COMMANDER MEOUCH.

Lord Phobos must have screamed too loud, as he heard Meouch scream, and then a swear. Meouch was by his side in less than ten seconds.

“What the fuck, Phobos, what’s wro -”

you know his room is never like that what happened to him where is he -

“Calm down.”

\- i can’t calm down where is he he’s gone what happened -

Commander Meouch grabbed at either side of his face. No doubt, the rush of the thoughts of not only him but Lord Phobos hurt. “I don’t know what happened, okay? We gotta figure this out together.”

get havve havve knows him he’s known him the longest

“Breathe, Phobos.”

i’m trying.

Commander Meouch fetched Havve, who sat listening to music. As he heard that Doc had up and disappeared, he appeared at the top of the stairs in less than a heartbeat, and Lord Phobos moved from the doorframe to let him through.

The cyborg stood in the center of the room, almost shellshocked. Then he proceeded to tear the room apart, looking in drawers, in the closet, lifting up and tossing the bed to where he’d been standing just a moment earlier.

WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD.

“Do you know what he was working on?” Meouch asked, picking up a cylindrical object from Doc’s desk and setting it back where it was originally, more careful than Lord Phobos had ever seen.

I

\- Havve let out a high pitched, electronic wail -

HAVE NO CLUE. I DON’T… KNOW.

“It looks like a… core.”

Havve turned toward the desk, and Commander Meouch instinctively moved for him. Havve took the cylinder.

IT’S NOT A CORE. IT’S THE CORE.

“What d’ya mean?”

HIS. HIS CORE.

wouldn’t he… not… survive without it, at this point?

“Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me,” Meouch said.

what?

“He must have _replaced_ it, I’ve been...” Meouch trailed off.

Silence, and then,

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING, COMMANDER?

“I’m still smuggling,” he admitted, “just on the side. Sometimes they need me, and I -”

Havve punched him and Meouch crumpled to the floor. He wound up to crack Meouch again, but Lord Phobos caught the fist.

Lord Phobos had never been on the receiving end of a punch from Havve, but based on even just catching it in his hand, it would have fucking hurt. His hand throbbed dully, so in pain that he felt nothing, and Meouch lay on the ground groaning and glassy eyed.

Lord Phobos met Havve’s eyes, the red LED pupils connected to what used to be human eyes. Usually Phobos would have looked away in a millisecond, but he stared. Havve bore down into him, then relented and slackened his hand. They released each other, but Lord Phobos still stood protectively between them.

 “I had a core,” Meouch piped up. “Different from what I delivered. I kept it. I keep things, sometimes, I like having something I can hold...”

AND?

“It was strong,” he said. “You felt it when you held it. Like… holding a star. But a star near supernova - hot, like it was gonna explode any second.”

Havve relegated himself to the other side of the turned-over bed, almost caging himself so he didn’t pounce.

you didn’t kill him, did you?

“I don’t _know_ ,” Meouch said. “But... he’s the one touching my shit! He shouldn’t have been snoopin’ around!”

No one responded.

“Listen, y’all know the guy by now. If he messed with the core and he… exploded into time or some shit, that’s not my fault,” Meouch said. He finally managed to pick himself up off the ground, and Lord Phobos could have punched him right back down again.

But he was right, to some extent.

you still shouldn’t have brought something like that into the house.

“Okay, sorry Mom, I won’t do that again.”

quit being such a lackadaisical bastard.

“Quit readin’ the fuckin’ dictionary for fun.”

maybe pick up a book instead of a cigarette and then we’ll talk.

STOP.

“Maybe learn to live a little and quit bein’ a such diplomat because you aren’t one anymore.”

i do live. The throb in his hand was the evidence.

LET US FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND.

Phobos and Meouch turned to Havve, who held the old core in his hand, staring intently.

DOCTOR SUNG IS GONE. WE KNOW THAT. HE MUST HAVE USED THE CONTRABAND CORE TO REPLACE THIS ONE. WHY, I DON’T KNOW. THIS ONE IS PERFECTLY FINE.

“Okay.”

BUT… EXPLODED INTO TIME, YOU SAID.

“Yeah, maybe. I was bein’ a dick, though.”

I KNOW. BUT THE DOCTOR IS THE LAST OF HIS KIND. AND HE CAN TIME TRAVEL, OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT?

Phobos and Meouch turned back to each other.

doctor sung doesn’t use it anymore, though.

HE DOESN’T HAVE A REASON TO, NOW.

Lord Phobos looked down at his beslippered feet. He shut his eyes tight. Meouch placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.

Phobos opened his eyes once more. The bed still sat overturned in the middle of the room, Havve still stood in the corner looking at the core in his hand with some modicum of bewilderment, and Meouch used one hand to rub his temple while the other stayed with Lord Phobos. So this was real.

“We need to get him back,” Meouch stated.

WELL YEAH. NO DUH.

Havve tossed the core to Meouch, who caught it. Meouch palmed it for a few seconds. “This was… in his chest,” he whispered.

No one knew precisely the story of Doc installing the prismatic core, or even why. Sometimes he said he added it to make him run faster, or to add extra storage. Funny stuff. But Lord Phobos remembered how sometimes Doc would grab at his torso, or flick the core really quickly on and off, and how he noticed Doc was incredibly protective of his chest.

It hurt, and would he have died for a second when trying the new one?

why are we just standing here? do we know anyone who could help?

COMMANDER, BECAUSE YOU BROUGHT THIS INTO THE HOUSE -

“Yeah, I know somebody,” Meouch breathed.

\- YOU HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE. I DON’T KNOW ANYONE VERY WELL OUTSIDE OF YOU THREE. ALSO FUCK YOU FOR INTERRUPTING ME.

you know the falafel man from the exchange district.

THIS IS TRUE, BUT I DOUBT HE HAS THE CAPACITY TO TIME TRAVEL.

“The falafel guy is really cool.”

HE TRULY IS. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT FALAFEL. TAKE US TO YOUR CRAFT.


	2. heza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys begin their travels

YOUR CRAFT IS A PIECE OF SHIT.

“You’re a piece of shit.”

guys, stop.

Meouch huffed and leaned forward on the yoke. Admittedly, his craft wasn’t as impressive as Doc’s – Doc had the Silver Bullet – but it still got him from point A to point B quickly.

Havve did have a tendency to randomly power down. Millennia of living would do that to a guy. Or what presumably used to be a guy. Havve was a bit of a mess of silicon and circuitry, with a bit of tubing, now.

Still a piece of shit, but like a run-down car that you love.

The trio were travelling through space, on their way to a red planet Meouch knew. Now, the last time he’d been there, there had been a bit of trouble – a burning ship, for one – but was sure now they’d all be okay.

They’d probably be okay.

(They had a 50-50 chance of surviving.)

is this safe? Phobos asked.

“Safe as life,” Meouch replied, leaning back.

oh, Phobos said, great. we have a good track record with that.

They went silent once more. Meouch wished they would talk, even a little. Just their heavy presences in his craft weren’t enough.

What if he had killed Doc?

He shook his head. I couldn’t have, he insisted.

But what if you did? that insistent, insidious voice persisted.

He couldn’t have. The core had a certain power, yes – indeed, like a star nearing supernova – but he just… couldn’t have. Doc’s an all-powerful being, he thought, the cosmos is in his damn eye. As if he’s gonna die experimenting on himself.

If he could, he would’ve been gone a long time ago.

Lord Phobos flopped forward, and Meouch realized that sleep had taken him. He sighed, and gently shifted Phobos so his head didn’t rest on the buttons. (Not only did it mess with the ship, it was also wildly uncomfortable.)

“You’re still with me, right, bud?” Meouch asked Havve.

OF COURSE. Havve gave him a thumbs up. Meouch shot him one back.

“Has Doc ever done anything like this before?” he asked. “For as long as I’ve known him, he’s been weird, but he’s never up and disappeared without warning. Or a note.”

NOT EVER.

Havve was not a being made to comfort.

“Cool.”

BUT THE MAN LIKES TO SIT IN THE BACKSEAT OF THE EARTH VEHICLE, FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE, SO I’M SURE HE’S SOMEWHERE.

“You’re sure?”

HE HAS TO BE.

Meouch glanced over to Havve, who stared down at his organic hands in his lap.

YOU CAN’T HAVE KILLED HIM.

“Thanks, man.”

YOU LACK THE SKILL. AND PREMEDITATION.

He suddenly didn’t want the company anymore. “Go to sleep, Havve,” he said.

I’M SORRY FOR PUNCHING YOU.

“No, you’re not.”

I’M NOT. BUT IT’S CUSTOMARY. DOC TAUGHT ME THAT.

“I appreciate it.”

Meouch chuckled and put the craft into autopilot. He went to the back to have what might be the universe’s longest bathroom break.

At the tail end of his tenure in the restroom, he felt a jolt, and the alarms started to blare. “Son of a bitch,” Meouch muttered, rinsing his hands quickly and rushing out.

When he emerged from the back, Lord Phobos sat captain, trying his hardest to steer against the pressure while most of the hull of the craft was gone. The only planet they could conceivably land and survive on floated not far from them, but they were far from where they needed to be.

“What HAPPENED?” Meouch yelled.

I DON’T KNOW! Havve and Phobos yelled back.

“Well, the front of my craft is gone!”

NICE OBSERVATION.

“Will you two let me steer?”

Lord Phobos moved out of the seat and kept his hands on the yoke. Meouch assumed captain and steered the craft – or attempted to. The yoke felt broken, and the craft wouldn’t follow his directions. He pressed three stabilizing buttons above him, but they did nothing. He looked up, still smashing the buttons, but the lights wouldn’t click on. He cursed under his breath.

“Ready for a crash landing?” he asked the others, heading for the nearest planet regardless.

WHAT? Lord Phobos screamed.

Gods, it always hurt when he screamed. Phobos’s screams filled every nook and cranny of your brain, building up until they were the only things you could think of.

“As if you haven’t done it before,” Meouch grumbled.

but it’s still scary every time!

Phobos had a point. Meouch turned to Havve, who calmly sat strapped in with his hands folded in his lap. Phobos, ever more frantic, sat stewing in an energy. His leg bounced up and down. How dare he have a physical form.

Meouch inched up as much as he could while strapped in the chair and pushed the yoke. Another blast from nowhere hit as soon as they entered the atmosphere, and part of shrapnel from what was left of the hull hit Meouch in the shoulder, and the already out of control craft got even more so.

The shrapnel hit hard and deep, and Meouch’s whole left arm burned. Havve picked him up and out of the seat while Phobos took over navigation again, glancing over his shoulder at the others. Meouch made the mistake of looking down at the wound and saw the red oozing out, congeal, and mat his fur.

He almost passed out.

Havve laid him down in the medbay and began to work on him.

“Can I have something to numb – AGH!” he yelled as Havve up and pulled the shrapnel out of Meouch.

He looked up at it with morbid curiosity. Meouch snuck a peek once he could open his eyes again and saw how big it was – and jagged… and covered by his blood…

His vision went blurry, and he saw three Havves standing over him. After what felt like a blink, Havve slapped him at an eighth’s strength.

I’VE STITCHED YOU UP.

“Thanks,” Meouch mumbled.

The craft jerked and Meouch fell off the cot. Havve caught him and they staggered back to the front. Phobos sat flipping switches.

what do i do? He asked in their heads, too quick to understand at first.

“Get it to the gantry!”

what’s a gantry?

“Gods, you’re such a fuckin’ diplomat,” Meouch muttered, then said, “The pillars!”

His arm still burned like hell, and he felt every stitch Havve had made. Little holes along the socket of his shoulder, a seam of a t-shirt burned into him for probably forever.

Lord Phobos managed to pull into the pillars well enough for a diplomat. Poor guy scratched the side of the ship and Meouch winced. Phobos stopped hard and Havve and Meouch flew forward; Havve managed to catch himself on the module behind the left passenger’s seat, but Meouch’s trajectory sent him towards the captain’s chair, and he hit the upper computer module before he hit the back of the captain’s chair, and had to brace himself with his arms. He crumbled at the body weight and inertia at his injury, and fell in and out of consciousness.

Phobos undid his straps and grabbed for Meouch, who currently slid down the back of the chair. He pulled Meouch up to his feet again, but he fell again, and Phobos silently pleaded to Havve for help. Havve took the couple steps over and easily lifted Meouch. He slung Meouch over his shoulder like a sack.

They descended the staircase to the interior of the gantry. The species that greeted them were tripedal, smaller leg in the back and two long ones in the front, possessing a large, pointed skull that looked like a chrysalis back on Earth. They were varying florescent colours, and Meouch blinked long, sleepily. Their colours stained his eyelids.

Phobos communicated with them. Havve walked Meouch to what looked like a bench and laid him down.

YOU’LL BE OKAY HERE.

Meouch reached out with his good arm and patted Havve’s face plate. He didn’t even swat him away.

When Meouch woke up, Phobos sat at his feet, eating some pale green jelly. He leaned up on his elbows, winced at his left, then sat up completely. He breathed shallowly.

welcome back. Phobos raised the container to him and nodded once.

“Thanks, pal.”

Meouch looked over to his craft. It looked practically brand new, and the scratches that Phobos had subjected it to were gone. One of the species of the planet in the gantry walked up to Phobos and began to speak to him, a harsh click from the front of its mandibles.

they want payment.

Meouch resisted rolling his eyes. He pulled a block out of his vest and handed it to the creature. It clicked and placed it on a block of its own.

they say thank you.

Meouch made the universal standard sign of thank you and you’re welcome, a gesture of raising an appendage and turning it. The creature understood and gave him back his block.

“Okay, cool,” Meouch said. “What are they?”

gerahena. it seems we’ve landed on the planet heza.

Meouch nodded. Nothing really sank in on account of he couldn’t think of anything other than how the searing pain in his left shoulder had become a constant dull throb. “Do they really click or is that just my head?” he asked.

nah. that’s how they talk.

“What are you eating?”

it’s one of their delicacies. i think it’s called the x… xega… xegaha'a? Phobos lifted the container up to his face, as if accusing it of confusing him on its name.

“Is it good?”

are you hungry?

“Yeah.”

then it’s pretty good.

Phobos gave him a scoop and it truly was something that tasted amazing, but in the sense of when you hadn’t eaten in what felt like forever so really anything would taste good at that point. That kind of goodness. Like a 99 cent slice of pizza – you get what you pay for.

“That’s alright.”

Phobos nodded. Meouch looked around and found Havve leaning against the stairway to the ship, arms crossed and looking in their direction.

WE NEED TO LEAVE.

He modulated it slightly different than he talked before, an actual urgency in his voice. Meouch stood and felt his soul fall through the floor, but he stood.

“Why?” he asked.

Havve pointed to the window opposite the entry to the gantry. Little dots were appearing along the horizon. Meouch squinted and he couldn’t tell if they were a Heza equivalent to birds, or planes, or -

“Oh, _shit!”_ he yelled.

The gerahena in the immediate area were clicking loud, soft, but angry. They pointed at Meouch. He rushed to the craft’s ramp and glanced behind him. Phobos, thankfully, was on his tail and moving fast. The trio made it to the ship and strapped in.

ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE ALRIGHT TO -

Meouch flicked switches on. “I’m fine,” he said. _When it’s a situation like this, I’m always fine_ , Meouch thought. Havve didn’t even get mad at him for interrupting.

Meouch looked in the rearview; the enraged tripedals had formed a line to block the open exit. But he looked forward and saw the window that expanded the whole opposite side of the gantry. He revved up the ship and began to build up a charge.

what are you doing? are they going to be okay?

Meouch revved again, and as the dots approached -

THOSE ARE MISSILES.

\- he pushed the buttons on the yoke and propelled them forward. Havve and Phobos grabbed for their respective chair arms, while Meouch whooped and hollered as they crashed through the clear plating, and began to navigate through the missiles.

It was almost like a video game, one where it felt like they were coming at you in real life – except he actually had stakes, it wasn’t just him in the ship, he had his friends – and Meouch dodged them all.

Mostly, as one of the missile’s wings clipped the craft and made them wobble, but it crashed into another missile and both exploded. That, apparently, was too close for comfort, and Phobos would not stop screaming (something about turning back), nor would the pain in his shoulder, and oh gods there’s another one… He pulled up, pushed down, and felt the adrenaline pump through his veins. He ascended through the atmosphere, and didn’t care about the fate of the creatures in the gantry they left behind.

The exterior went from green clouds to blackness and void once more, and Lord Phobos looked at Meouch with anger, true blood red anger.

what the fuck, man?

Meouch breathed heavily, and sat back in his chair. He released the tension that had built in his shoulders, and rolled them carefully. His left shoulder kept reminding him that hey, you're injured. It finally sunk in that Phobos had spoken, so he replied, “What?”

why would you do that?

Meouch still focused on his shoulder. He pressed the button for autopilot. “Do what?” he asked.

do _what?_

When autopilot stabilized, Meouch finally looked at Phobos. Without the helmet, he could see every emotion in his eyes. They were so damn blue, and waved crashed the shores within them. What did he mean?

Oh.

“It was us or them,” he stated simply. “They wanted us dead.”

but still, that’s fucked up! they’re a society, they’re a people!

Meouch focused on keeping his face neutral, emotionless, although his heart pinched at Lord Phobos saying those words. “I know,” he said. “It’s just a few.”

they helped us.

Meouch opened his mouth, then shut it again. It went deathly silent; Meouch kept Phobos’s emotional stare with his blank one. _Sinwi,_ they called it back home. _Stone heart, stone face_.

And then…

THE COMMANDER IS TECHNICALLY CORRECT. IF THEY WANTED US DEAD, THEN IT DOESN’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE THAT THEIR MISSILES KILLED THEM.

Lord Phobos gave them one last withering glare, undid his straps, and stormed to the back.

Meouch shut his eyes and relaxed his face. He frowned. “They did try to kill us,” he whispered. “Right?”

I THINK WHAT TROUBLES LORD THE MOST IS THAT YOU REACTED JOYOUSLY.

Meouch grunted noncommittally, and they continued their travels to the red planet he knew and so desperately wished they’d landed on in the first place.


	3. elzib and lugo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys meet meouch's man

They landed on the red planet of machinery, surrounded by clunking sounds of metal and the whirring of gears. Havve ducked under the shifting of a giant arm while looking at Doctor Sung’s device in his hand.

He told the others Doc had been here before, and Meouch told Havve to lead the way.

So he did, keeping his head on a swivel and looking up and down, ahead and to the device he held.

“Ow, fuck,” Commander Meouch said in the under-the-breath, overly enunciated way that happens when something gets you just enough to hurt. He’d been sustaining quite a bit of injuries.

Havve glanced behind him. ARE YOU OKAY, COMMANDER? he asked.

Commander Meouch rubbed above his left eye. “I’m fine,” he said, which he said a lot, and looked back at the culprit.

Havve stopped walking, and Commander Meouch walked into him. Lord Phobos kept a distance to the right of them in the valley of machines in which they walked. “What are you _doing_?” Commander Meouch asked.

Havve made a whirring noise.

“Havve.”

He made another whirring noise. IT... APPEARS WE ARE LOST, he said.

Commander Meouch laid a hand – a paw, now, it had shifted – on Havve’s shoulder. “Really,” he said, and it wasn’t a question.

YES.

Commander Meouch scrunched up his face. It looked like he may have been counting to ten.

“Why don’t you look at that thing?” he asked, waving a half-hand half-paw situation to Doctor Sung’s device. “What is it, anyway?”

IT’S THE DOCTOR’S. I TOOK IT FROM ONE OF HIS DRAWERS BEFORE WE LEFT.

“But what is it, exactly?”

Havve squinted down at it.

IT APPEARS TO BE AN ENHANCED EARTHEN CELLULAR TELEPHONE.

“Are you… fuckin’ kidding me right now, dude?”

NO. WHY?

“We’re trusting his _cell phone_?”

I MEAN, he looked down at the device in his hand. It had an upper screen and a bottom plate with buttons hinged together. YEAH.

“I should’ve killed him when we first met,” Commander Meouch muttered.

i thought you knew where we were going, Lord Phobos said, and crossed his arms.

“Y’know what, Phobs, I thought I did, but it turns out the person moved,” Commander Meouch snapped. “Beings tend to do that.”

Lord Phobos raised his hands. just saying, he said.

Havve very much was not a being made to comfort. He produced a strained beep and pulled up a map on the Doctor’s device.

OKAY, he said, LET’S GO THIS WAY.

(He’d found a random point on the map. He just wanted to keep moving. Emotions are difficult.)

Lord Phobos still plodded behind, and Havve could feel a heat coming off of him. Lord Phobos tended to keep his emotions inside until they made him incredibly warm or incredibly cold, and also didn’t love when he let anything out that wasn’t absolute happiness. Perhaps it was the diplomat in him, thought Havve, where only the perceived humane emotions could arise. Everything else had to be shoved down and compartmentalized.

Commander Meouch, on the other hand, seemed perpetually annoyed or chill. There were no other choices, and Havve didn’t know which of the two he preferred. Annoyance came out in passive aggressive ways and Havve didn’t understand why someone would be passive aggressive when you could be aggressive-aggressive. True, in recent moments Commander Meouch had the right to be annoyed, with almost being killed (again) and all.

Havve pinpointed the reason he liked the Doctor. He felt everything so intensely; happiness was jovial and sadness was absolute devastation, anger was rage and interest was total engrossment. He could handle Commander Meouch and Lord Phobos. They were the pans and the Doctor was the balance beam in between them.

Without Doc, and with this heavy subject in between them, no one spoke and everyone marinated in their feelings.

where is this guy you know? Phobos asked.

He’d made a point to let Havve in on the conversation, perhaps letting them know he had cooled down.

“Somewhere.” Meouch’s one word answer let them know that he, on the other hand, had not.

Phobos made a sound, like a grumbling human stomach, the equivalent to a sigh from him.

Havve pushed on.

These beings were stubborn, stubborn creatures. Havve knew that Meouch’s kind – a race whose alphabet looked like tangled tree branches – were notoriously cocky, arrogant despite their background of being grain farmers. They also had a mean streak, and were known for pretty intense grudges.

They did, according to Doc, make some pretty darn good grains.

Lord Phobos’s race let it be known that they rarely if ever had disputes. Every hardship or potential argument that came up where his home once was was handled, in Havve’s mind, much too calmly. He really couldn’t imagine Phobos back home now, after being exposed to the other three and others in the universe, and the others finding that his diplomacy now could only go so far.

What if he remembered that Meouch had, however inadvertently, destroyed his planet?

Havve shook the thought and modulated a little cough.

and this person, Lord Phobos said, what do they know? how can they help us?

“My man’s studied this kinda shit,” Meouch replied, a tad curt. “Don’t worry.”

Meouch had gotten ahead of Havve, and he stopped suddenly. Havve followed where Meouch trained his eyes and found they were now all staring at a makeshift hut.

“This has got to be it,” Meouch breathed. “We spoke it into existence.”

i hope so, Phobos said, and Meouch ignored him.

“Go first.” Meouch nudged Havve.

WHY.

“Because.”

‘BECAUSE’ WHY, COMMANDER?

“I…” Meouch tossed his arms up, trying to grasp at an excuse. “Because if whatever’s in there isn’t friendly you have the best chance at winning in a fight now _go_ ,” he urged.

Oh, Havve would win that fight. He once fought a raccoon and won. He could take on whatever machine thingy that lay within the shitty hut.

Havve put on his game face (his regular face) and approached the hut. It appeared to be sheets of metal recklessly welded together. He placed an organic hand on one panel, and it felt warm but not hot. A comfortable warmth.

He tried to shift what appeared to be the door.

“Ever heard of knocking?”

The voice came from behind all of them. Meouch must have leapt three feet in the air, Lord Phobos clutched his stomach, and Havve just turned.

The shadowy figure stepped into the light. They looked up. Even Havve had to strain to get a good look at the face of this thing. They were dressed in an industrial grey jumpsuit, with a piece of pink fabric draped over and armholes to accommodate their four arms. At the face, they had a mouth like a wave of water; three eyes, two situated in the middle of the face and one on the forehead. Skin puckered over the one on their left, however, and jagged lines burst like lightning from where the eye used to be.

Havve liked instantly whoever they were. Even if they would try to kill them.

“Elzib, hey, man,” Meouch responded. “Is this your… place?”

“My humble abode,” Elzib said, and Havve could easily imagine them with a cigarette hanging from their lips. His voice was… mellifluous, and low.

“Yeah.” Meouch looked at the run-down hut. “You could call it that.”

The one called Elzib laughed, and Havve thought that this would be where he’d throw his cigarette to the rough terrain and snuff it out with his foot. Or boot. Whatever was on his feet.

“So,” Elzib said. “You’re not gonna introduce me?” He swept one of his arms towards Havve and Phobos.

“Oh.”

“You were never great with manners, hey, bud?”

“Shut up. The red one’s Phobos -”

 _lord_. _lord_ phobos.

“Pleasure, my dear Lord,” Elzib said. “I’m Elzib.”

nice to meet you.

“This one’s Havve.”

HAVVE HOGAN.

“Nice to meet ya, Havve.”

YOU AS WELL. PLEASE SHOW US THE INTERIOR OF YOUR TERRIBLY MAINTAINED HOME. WE HAVE PRESSING MATTERS TO DISCUSS.

“Oh, absolutely.”

Elzib placed a triangular object against a panel to the right of the door. He held it there as he, this time, swept an arm to the dim interior. “Enter,” he said with flourish.

Havve looked to the others, shrugged, and dipped inside. Meouch and Phobos followed.

Elzib turned on the lights and Havve found the inside to be bigger than the outside suggested, and much cleaner. Knick-knacks and experiments sat on every possible chromed-out and bright surface. The door swooshed shut behind them.

“Yes,” Elzib said, removing the pink fabric and tying it around his waist with a smile on his face, “terribly maintained. Just terrible.”

Just then, a matte black ball rolled up to them. It shifted the top into thirds, and those thirds moved down to reveal a single rotating sphere atop a retractable shaft. The thirds turned into its legs.

Havve dropped to his knees and inspected it.

“This is Lugo,” Elzib said. He bent down and patted Lugo on its sphere with a single digit.

HELLO LUGO.

Lugo beeped at Havve.

“Lugo, tell ‘em what you do,” Elzib said, and wandered off.

_I’m Lugo! I’m an assistant that helps anywhere you go! I can display maps, track, and even make meals!_

thank you, Lugo, Lord Phobos said.

_May I get any of you a beverage?_

Havve and Phobos politely declined, while Meouch asked for a water – or the equivalent. Lugo beeped, turned back into a ball, and rolled off. Elzib reappeared.

“Hogan, you said you have pressing matters. What could it possibly be, besides insulting my house?” he asked.

IT LOOKS BAD FROM THE OUTSIDE. EXCUSE ME FOR PRESUMING.

“You’re excused.”

Havve elected against telling Elzib the issue himself, as he hadn’t started this whole thing. MEOUCH, TELL ELZIB.

Elzib took a seat at a hovering plank and Meouch sat across from him. Meouch looked at the others, brows knitted, then turned back to Elzib and his yellowish skin.

“I… misplaced Doctor Sung,” he said.

“How do you misplace a being?”

Meouch sighed. “I brought back a contraband core. From GHC,” he added.

Elzib let out a low noise, almost that of a whistle. “That’s not good,” he said to Meouch. He turned to Phobos and Havve. “That’s not good.”

great, Lord Phobos said.

Havve and Phobos sat on plush, round cushions.

“And?” Elzib urged, folding his bottom two hands, then his top two atop them.

Meouch breathed in harshly. He rubbed his right knee. “Doctor Sung – I’ve told you about him – he has that core, right? That prismatic core. Fucked himself right up.”

“I know of the story.” Elzib sipped from his container. “And, what? He took the core from you and embedded it within himself?”

“Seems that way. We’re not sure what exactly happened, but my core is gone and his is… well,” Meouch trailed off, and motioned to Havve. Havve took the old core out of his thigh bag.

Elzib’s approximations of eyebrows shot up. “What do you think I can do?” he whispered to Meouch. “The core was powerful. This one is almost nothing, now, right?”

Meouch went to take a sip from his container, but lowered it at Elzib saying that. “What?” he said. “What do you mean by ‘now’?”

“This core is precisely like the one we got from GHC, correct?”

“No, it’s not,” Meouch insisted. “This one’s different. It’s shit.”

Elzib cocked his head to the side. “Shit?” he said. His mouth surrounded the word strangely, a foreign word, and he almost made it sound sweet rather than vulgar.

“Bad. It’s terrible.”

IT IS A BATTERY, Havve cut in, and everyone looked at him.

It had taken him one second from when Elzib had said that Doc’s old core was next to nothing now. Doc, from the moment he’d implanted this first core, was saving his own life.

“That’s what I was trying to say. These things do lose the charge about every 5 billion years,” Elzib said. All too casually, as if he hadn’t just caused three out of five beings in the room to have a revelation.

Havve looked back up to them and Meouch and Phobos were staring at each other. Meouch blinked at about half his usual rate, and his right hand that rested on the table shifted rapidly from hand to paw. Elzib twiddled his fingers.

Lugo rolled in.

_Hi everyone! May I help in any way?_

“Please roll to your dock, Lugo,” Elzib said kindly.

_Okay!_

Slowly, Meouch returned to a lucid state and tore his stare from Lord Phobos to Elzib. “What does this mean, then? Where is he?” he asked.

Elzib suddenly looked exhausted. His skin turned a sickly yellow and his remaining eyes drooped. “How should I know?” he asked.

“You’re an expert!”

“I know many things but not that.” Elzib looked pensively at a photo across the room. Havve followed his gaze to a picture of Elzib with someone that looked to be another of his race. “I know that it was the core, and I know of your friend.”

he can time travel, does that help?

Elzib shrugged. “He may be in a timestream, a wormhole he’s created around himself,” he said. “I’m not sure, it’s hard with this kind of thing.”

WHEN WILL HE BE BACK.

“A day? A month? Who knows,” Elzib said. “Beings go missing all the time.”

Meouch looked at him. His brows furrowed, and it looked like he couldn't decide whether to bare his teeth or frown. “You’re being a bit lackadaisical about this,” he said.

hey! Lord Phobos said.

Elzib sighed. “Look,” he said. “I’m concerned and sorry about your friend. But I can’t work this one. The best I can say is _maybe_ he’s in a timestream, or _maybe_ he’s done this – I can’t give you concrete answers beyond the fact that the core is a kind of battery. I can’t help you.”

Meouch looked over at Havve and Phobos and back to Elzib. “I know it’s hard for you, bud, but... please.” He laid a hand on Elzib’s shoulder.

Elzib sighed. He shook his head. He stood and untied the pink fabric from his waist and put it on. “I can’t do this one,” he looked at Meouch. “I’m sorry.”

He began to walk towards the door to show them out, and they were slowly gathering behind him, first Meouch, then Phobos, then Havve. Havve looked at Meouch. “You still owe me one, y’know,” Meouch said, smiling a little.

No one said anything, and then, without turning, Elzib said, “I can try. But every time I come back, every time I emerge, it’s with blood on my hands. And not always my own,” he said.

I KNOW THE FEELING.

Elzib turned his gaze to Havve and smiled, a small touch lifting the corners of his mouth, crinkling the skin around his eyes.

Alarms blared.


	4. expertise

Elzib ran, oh – they were all running. Him and the Commander and the red one and the big, scary one with the chompers.

Meouch said something (he never said anything, though, truly. He always whispered or yelled or snapped but never _said_ ) about his craft and Elzib finally focused again, grounded himself, and saw the appalling little thing Meouch dared to call a craft.

“A craft? It’s a damn dinghy is what it is,” Elzib said to Meouch once they all reached the door.

Meouch imitated him distastefully and they all clambered aboard. Elzib let Lugo go and roll around to get a feel for the new space.

“I didn’t know the Council followed you,” he said.

BELIEVE US WHEN WE SAY WE DID NOT KNOW EITHER.

Elzib had never had anyone in his brain quite like Havve, so he jolted upward a bit whenever he spoke directly to him. Elzib had, actually, never known any being quite like Havve, and he noticed the chipping paint in the cyborg’s jawline, possibly a testament to the age.

Elzib also noticed a bump above Meouch’s left eye, a shaved area on his left shoulder, and a bit of bruising around the right eye. Like his manners, Meouch had never really been good with taking care of himself.

And the red being… well, Elzib hadn’t seen his face yet, but he seemed to be a nervous and glowing creature with a bit of a biting sarcasm that Elzib could appreciate, if he were to pin him so soon. He had a feeling he could really like this fellow.

Lugo rolled up to Elzib. He scooped him up.

“Where shall I sit?” he asked.

Meouch looked around at the three seats and grunted. He pressed a button in the middle of getting the craft ready for takeoff and another, more dilapidated seat emerged from the floor.

“Ah, excellent.” Elzib sat. He sank down easily, and the chair surrounded his form comfortably.

Meouch finally took off, as the gaseous beings of the Council just found the landing area. For a small, badly made craft, it had a surprisingly smooth ride.

Elzib looked to Phobos in the second’s chair. He seemed surrounded by a certain calm and neurotic energy; this being suspended in a limbo of war and peace.

“Don’t do that!” Meouch snapped, and swatted Lord Phobos’s glowy hand away from a toggle he’d been toggling.

Elizb deduced that they didn’t usually treat each other as such, based on the way Meouch had talked about them in their meetings.

He recalled how he’d first met Meouch – him, contracted to kill the commander, and the commander, saving his life. And so now he sat here, floating through space three hundred years later, unsure he’d be able to find Meouch’s _beconed_ friend.

Meouch eased the ship into autopilot, cloaked it, and clapped his hands.

what’s up? Lord Phobos asked.

“Let’s figure out how to get this motherfucker back.”

DON’T CALL HIM THAT.

Meouch waved a dismissive hand and led everyone to the back of the ship, which housed a sad bookcase, sad one-person cot, and a sad excuse for a kitchen. They sat at the sad excuse for a table.

“Now, Elzib,” Meouch said, “don’t judge.”

“I wasn’t,” he replied, but he had been. “All I’m thinking is that mine just _looks_ like… what was the word you’d used?”

SHIT.

“Yes! Thank you, Havve. Mine only _looks_ like shit on the outside.”

Meouch pinched the bridge of his snout with his thumb and forefinger. “I said no judging,” he sighed.

Elzib shrugged. “It’s an observation,” he said.

“A judgemental one.”

“You’re consistent!”

“Shut up.”

The ship slipped into silence and then Lord Phobos broke it, in their heads, at least.

meouch said you’re an expert. how so and how did you two meet?

Elzib cleared his throat and felt Meouch roll his eyes. He leaned in and pressed his hands to the table. “I’ll start with how we met. It was a dark and stormy night -”

“We were in space,” Meouch interrupted.

Elzib made his equivalent to a hush, waving a hand wildly, and continued. “Anyway, we were on a ship chartered to the planet” - a guttural noise, the name, two staccato notes - “and I was contracted to kill him.”

“You’ve never told me who.”

“By whom, I can’t tell. But a fight erupted, as it does when someone tries to kill someone and they fight for their life. A shot rang out and hit a part of the engine, and when it looked ready to blow, Commander Meouch here decided to save my life by using one of his fancy little smuggling gadgets.”

Meouch very badly suppressed a proud look, as always when Elzib approached this part of the story. “It was just an energy wall, no big deal,” he said.

“I was absolutely blown away, thank goodness not literally, and very calm about it.”

Meouch snorted. “You screeched like crazy,” he said.

“I do not _screech_.”

Meouch raised a brow. “You screeched," he insisted.

Elzib waved one of his hands. “We’ve been friends ever since,” he said.

Havve looked pleased, or as pleased as he could. MURDER. AS ALL GREAT FRIENDSHIPS BEGIN.

“Attempted murder, but exactly!” Elzib snapped a finger a pointed at Havve, then leaned to look at Meouch, who still stood. “You see? Havve gets it. I don’t know why you don’t.”

Meouch laughed, a short huff. He slackened his shoulders. Of course the being had been carrying extra tension, he thought he must have killed his friend! Elzib knew he didn’t, for he lacked the skill and frankly ruthlessness to do so, but he knew in his heart of hearts (which was a literal statement for Elzib, whose people had a heart within a heart) that the coned friend was alive.

Energy cannot be destroyed. He felt the coned friend’s energy.

“What’s your friend’s name, again?” Elzib asked the trio.

DOCTOR SUNG.

Elzib felt Doctor Sung’s energy.

“Oh, and to answer your first question, I am an expert. In general. Of many things. I’m millennia old; how can I not be? Also, I can time travel under special circumstances, but I don’t really do that anymore.”

ah.

Elzib cocked his head. Meouch furrowed his brow and turned toward Lord Phobos, tension building up in his shoulders again, bringing them upward and upward. “I don’t like how you said that, Phobs,” he said.

what do you mean? Lord Phobos asked defensively.

The knit between Meouch’s brows got tighter. He raised one hand, still locked in his cross-arm position so just his fingers stood up. “No, like, you think my man’s an idiot,” he said.

Lord Phobos shrugged. your man lacks credentials other than his age, so, he said.

“‘So’ what?”

“First of all, I can hear you,” Elzib interjected toward Lord Phobos, “and secondly, that hurts.”

i know and i know, Lord Phobos said.

“Why are you suddenly being like this?” Meouch asked, voice rising.

you know why!

“No, I don’t!"

COMMANDER.

you know what this is about! i don’t want to let us just… pay no heed to the fact! Lord Phobos's hands were out of control, pointing and gesticulating almost involuntarily.

“WHAT FACT?” Meouch was screaming now, a _roar_ , an angry reminder that he was, indeed, a lion.

The king of the jungle back home, the king of his little ship, and would not be spoken to in such a way.

COMMANDER, Havve said, a desperate modulation in his voice.

what you did was despicable, and then you bring us to this… witch doctor who you said could fix everything but he can’t!

“WHAT DID I DO?” Meouch continued to yell, and Phobos continued to yell to everyone’s heads, and Elzib just watched. “I CAN’T FIX A PROBLEM I DON’T KNOW ABOUT!”

COMMANDER.

you know about this problem! you know what it is!

COMMANDER.

“WHAT?” he directed to Havve.

THE GERAHENA.

“OH!” Meouch tossed up his arms and slammed his hands on the table. He looked exhausted, and a billion years old. He sucked the spittle that had accumulated on his maw back into his mouth.

The only noises were the gentle beeps of the life support system, the sound of the split-second hum of the engine being whisked away by space, and Meouch’s laborious breathing.

“Gerahena?” Elzib asked, voice low. Like opening the door to a fight you’d heard muffled behind it – tentative, yet cutting the air like a helicopter’s blades.

Elzib looked at Meouch, who wouldn’t look at him. “What happened, Commander?” he asked.

Meouch still wouldn’t look at him, and kept his unblinking gaze fixed on the steel table.

“Commander,” Elzib pressed again, urgently.

Meouch shut his eyes and knit his brows. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said quietly through his teeth.

Elzib cocked his head slightly. “But you did _something_ ,” he said slowly.

you did do something wrong and you know it, Lord Phobos said.

“Have we not been through enough?” Meouch finally raised his head, Elzib knew it had only been a few moments but it had felt like an eternity, and spat this at Lord Phobos. “Lately you’ve just been a fuckin’ cat scratch - it’s not enough to wound me, you gotta _burn_ too, huh?”

what are you talking about?

THE COMMANDER IS SAYING YOU ARE BEING A MARK YOU GET FROM A DOMESTICATED CAT BACK ON EARTH. THEY HURT, AND STING LONG AFTERWARD.

i know, havve.

THEN WHY DID YOU ASK.

Phobos ignored that. but how? he asked.

Meouch placed a hand on his chest, spread wide. “I’m trying, here. They wanted to kill us,” he said.

Elzib began to speak. “That doesn’t sound so” -

they helped us!

\- “bad.”

Meouch turned to Elzib. “They helped us and as soon as they learned who I was and what I’m affiliated with they wanted us dead,” he said.

why were you affiliated with people like that, then? what could that possibly achieve? a cheap thrill and bragging rights?

Despite himself, Meouch smirked. Phobos's hands turned to fists on the table. “Okay, first of all, Havve, note that phrase because that’s gonna be the name of my autobiography," Meouch said.

NOTED.

“And second of all, maybe. But it got me by and it’s what’s getting us by now.”

“Can you guys start from the beginning?” Elzib said. “Please?”

So they told Elzib that they were planning to go to his planet but were struck down by someone or thing by the planet Heza. Then, after the ship had been fixed by the gantry and payment went through, things started to go… awry.

“Awry?” Elzib asked. “What do you mean _awry_?”

meouch destroyed the planet, and laughed as he did so!

“Oh, Gods, Meouch!” Elzib exclaimed, leaning back in his chair and grasping his head with his upper set of arms. “ _Again_?”


	5. condor

“They destroyed their own planet,” Meouch maintained.

Havve saw Elzib’s remaining eyes shift toward Meouch, something new and a bit dark behind them. “Goodness and badness,” he said carefully, “isn’t black and white. But to be so joyous as beings die? Despicable, as what Lord Phobos said.”

Meouch tried to do that emotionless face thing he does, but it didn’t completely work, and Havve saw that Elzib had hurt him. “You’re a bounty hunter,” he said, exasperated.

Elzib shook his head. “I’m never happy when I kill,” he said, and Havve knew he was telling the truth.

“But you’re happy to have the money from it.”

Elzib went to say something else, but Havve beat him to the punch. MAY WE RETURN TO THE SITUATION AT HAND, he said, finished with all these totally organic being emotions.

Meouch shot Havve a look, a silent thank you. Havve nodded.

THIS HAPPENED. THAT IS TRUE. BUT IT IS PAST, AND WHAT MATTERS IS THAT WE ARE ALIVE, AND MUST FIND DOCTOR SUNG.

Lord Phobos sat back reluctantly. It seemed he would be stewing in his rage for a while.

“How about we -”

Elzib, wary, raised a silencing hand to Meouch. _The adults are speaking. The ones who don’t have death on their hands and hearts are thinking._

Meouch cast his gaze downward.

The ship went quiet once more as Elzib and Phobos stared intently at the table, thinking in tandem, as if Phobos hadn’t just been questioning Elzib’s qualifications. Murder brings people together in weird ways.

“We’re headed for -” Meouch began again, and this time Lord Phobos raised a dismissive, glowing hand.

Meouch stared at the hand until Phobos slowly lowered it. “’m gonna check the course,” he mumbled. He shoved away from the table and caused it to rattle.

Elzib and Phobos let out simultaneous sighs. Havve turned his head from where he’d followed Meouch’s movement back to them. He couldn’t believe it.

STOP BEING CHILDISH.

They looked at him, mildly surprised. “What ever do you mean?” Elzib asked, all too innocently.

If Havve had eyebrows, he’d have furrowed them. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, he said, THAT IS OUR FRIEND. HE MAY HAVE MADE MISTAKES BUT WE HAVE MORE PRESSING MATTERS AT HAND.

mistakes? like killing an entire civilization?

Havve wracked his brain quickly.

THE GERAHENA WERE PARASITES. THEY’VE DONE THAT BEFORE.

how do you -

I DOWNLOAD INFORMATION, LORD PHOBOS. IT’S WHAT I DO.

“That does not -”

THE GERAHENA HAVE KILLED THEIR FAIR SHARE OF BEINGS, ENSLAVED WHOLE PLANETS, AND DESTROYED WORLDS.

Elzib and Phobos looked at each other.

STOP BEING CHILDISH.

Havve pushed away from the table and walked to the automated door. It didn’t open right away, and he stood with his nose touching the cool metal for one quiet moment. He just pried them open. He squeezed them shut again when he reached the bridge.

“Quit doin’ that to my door,” Meouch said.

He sat, draped over his captain’s chair, basking in a nearby star’s warmth. His head lolled from side to side, not quite reaching the arm of the second’s chair. His hands lay limp and folded on his stomach.

THIS IS CHECKING THE COURSE?

Meouch smiled, eyes still shut. “Yes,” he said. “Well, I checked it, then I laid down.”

Havve sat in the third’s chair, near Meouch’s feet. I THINK I MAY KNOW WHERE THE DOCTOR MAY BE, he said after a moment.

Meouch bolted up and damn near fell over out of his chair. “No fuckin’ way!” he exclaimed quietly, a yelling whisper.

Elzib and Phobos entered meekly through the doors; they swooshed open just fine but shut again with a clunk.

CONDOR GALAXY, Havve said, right as Elzib snapped his fingers and said, “Condor galaxy!”

Meouch turned to his controls. “Why do you think that?” he asked. He hunched forward and kept his eyes ahead.

“They are a chief import of those cores, and the Doctor’s new core may want to find its home!” Elzib said.

Havve modulated a snort.

Phobos stood, flabbergasted. that’s among the biggest and oldest galaxies! how are we ever gonna find him?

I KNOW WE WILL.

Meouch side-eyed Havve.

how are you so sure?

BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE HE IS FROM.

A beat. Then a couple more, as it sank in.

“What?” Meouch and Elzib said in unison.

DID YOU NOT KNOW? THAT’S WHERE DOC AND HIS PARENTS ORIGINATED. ROUGHLY, AS THE UNIVERSE IS EVER-EXPANDING.

“Are you suggesting some sort of emotional connection to the place, rather than scientific or economic?” Elzib asked.

YES.

“Genius.”

Meouch entered “Condor” into the ship’s system and began a calculated course to the Condor galaxy. “You bastards may wanna sit down,” he said, leaning on the yoke. “We’re going hyper.”


	6. core

The galaxy shouldn’t look like that, Meouch thought. The system photo had shown Condor in blues, purples, and whites – not whatever the hell this was.

The galaxy felt surrounded with a wicked energy to accompany its bright yellow tinge. Meouch immediately felt the knot in his stomach grow tighter as he eased the ship into Condor.

where could he – oh, Lord Phobos cut himself off as the group saw where Doc could be.

A huge pillar, a concentrated beam of that same palpable yellow energy, struck through a nearby planet – a toothpick through an olive, a sword through a heart.

Meouch eased the ship in that direction, through the fog of yellow clouds outside and in his mind. Phobos and Havve gripped his shoulders, one on either side of him.

“I should apologize,” Elzib said. “I apologize for being so childish. Sometimes you must do a little bit of bad in order to do good. Nobody’s perfect. You're a good friend of mine, Commander.”

“Thank you,” Meouch replied. "You're pretty damn good, yourself."

i’m sorry, too, Phobos’s quiet voice echoed in Meouch’s head, i shouldn’t treat you like this. if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have made it this far.

“Thanks, Phobs, but I started this in the first place,” Meouch said with a shrug.

Phobos’s grip got tighter on his shoulder. now, he said, we’re gonna end it.

Elzib had gotten up and paced around the bridge of the ship. “This core will be extremely powerful – I’m sure we all know” - he swept one arm to the exterior - “if it is an emotional connection as our friend Havve here has said, then you three best have an excellent relationship with him, as you’re basically going to have to resurrect the poor man. What made him survive the first time?”

HIS PARENTS DIED.

“Ah, that would do it.”

They approached the planet. Its colours swirled black and silver, blue and gold, red and white. Rocks flew off of it, and Meouch had never navigated through Saturn’s rings, but he figured it would be something like this.

Meouch tried to fly towards Doc, but he saw that whatever it was surrounding him vaporized anything that tried to get near it. Making an executive decision, he steered a healthy distance away, but not so far that it would be an impossible journey to get to him.

The yellow energy fog got thicker, and suddenly they were on the ground, if you could call it that. The landing jolted their stomach upwards and they all let out involuntary grunts. They landed in a clearing surrounded by what looked like tall grass, but a blinding shade of purple. Pieces of the terrain broke off, some small chunks, others leaving giant craters behind.

Meouch looked over at Phobos, and then at Havve. It appeared they were all thinking the same thing: _Well, fuck._

Meouch sighed and undid his belts. The rest did the same, and Meouch took to finding his blaster and holstering it just in case. It always felt wrong to fight this way around Doc, not aiming to please but shooting to kill, but he’d rather have Doc be alive and angry with him than dead because they couldn’t get past some random malevolent being.

He grabbed a pair of goggles and situated them on his face. He looked back towards the others. They stood in a cluster on the bridge. Meouch nodded once, then pressed his hand into the button that opened the door.

A blast of wind hit him immediately. Instinctively, he raised a hand to shield from it, but it did nothing. It bit at his flesh, a billion little knives, and soon he couldn’t distinguish if he was hot or cold.

“C’mon, then!” he yelled to the others and himself. He began his slow descent on the ramp.

When his feet hit the ground, it cracked under them. He kept stepping, and the ground kept cracking, no matter how light he tried to make himself. By the time he looked back to see Lord Phobos staggering down the ramp, the ground looked like the driest desert back on Earth.

Lord Phobos took to using his jetpack, and although he zigzagged a couple times, he made it near Meouch, who stuck out his arm to steady his friend.

this planet is dying, Phobos said.

“It is not!” Elzib’s voice cut through the wind. “It is _regenerating_!”

Meouch looked back at Elzib. He had his own pair of goggles and had discarded his light pink robe. Tough gloves now covered each of his four hands. If not for the fact that he had to wear his goggles askew due to his eyes, Meouch would’ve thought he looked pretty damn cool.

Havve easily sauntered down the ramp and shut it after him. The ground maintained its level of self-destruction – _regeneration –_ and Meouch took it as a good sign. If it had cracked, but not fallen apart, then maybe the craft would still be here when they got back.

Phobos smacked Meouch’s arm a few times, and Meouch followed his gaze upward. Whatever rod of energy that struck through the planet had waves traveling through it, and what looked like lightning zapping out of it.

“That’s where Doc is?” Meouch asked, though he knew.

AFFIRMATIVE.

Meouch began to take cautious steps, one foot in front of the other. He looked up, and down, and made his way through the maze of purple grass. He knew the others were behind him from Phobos’s hand clamped on his shoulder.

Maybe he should have brought rope, something like those mountain climbers use. Meouch remembered when Doc had travelled to the biggest Earth mountain and proceeded to buy climbing gear and read every book he could on the subject. Good lord, he would miss that if they didn’t get Doc.

Doc happened to be the reason they had nonfiction books at all, at least those beyond music and bands.

Meouch sidestepped to avoid a chunk of terrain being expelled, and jumped over a small hole.

A colossal chunk of the terrain flew from the planet towards them. Meouch managed to shove Phobos out of the way, and Havve ducked, but Elzib -

“Oh, thank gods!” he yelled as he got up.

Meouch looked back at his friend. “It’s like the planet wants to protect him!” he yelled. “Why?”

“It wants his energy!” Elzib called back. “Keep moving!”

Doc had become obsessed with a new Earth country each week after they had landed, and this came with him buying books, clothes, and many failed attempts at making the country’s delicacies. It had taken him almost all of the late ‘80s to get through all of the countries, but he did it, and Meouch secretly admired him for that.

Meouch stopped short of a huge valley, too far to jump. He looked left, then right, and turned to the others.

“There’s no way!” he called.

Lord Phobos grabbed Meouch around the waist and started his jetpack. He struggled to lift him, and Meouch felt himself slipping and his stomach dropped, but Phobos made it to the other side. Meouch slumped to the ground. Phobos left him there, flew back, and gave the jetpack to Havve, who lifted the remaining two and took off easily. He landed, one knee touching the ground, and released the Elzib and Phobos.

“Why don’t you use that more often?” Meouch asked. He stood up.

Phobos shrugged. i never needed to, he said.

They had gotten considerably closer to the yellow pillar. Here, the air hit them with static electricity, and Meouch felt every hair of his stand on end. He looked at the others, who stood snickering at him.

“Oh, shut up! Let’s keep moving!” he said, and trudged forward. Phobos returned to his position of second, his hand on Meouch’s shoulder.

It became harder and harder to walk. They fought against the electric wind resistance, raised their arms to shield from it, but still their legs would give out every few yards. Their breathing got strained, squeezed from the inside out.

Meouch gulped. One foot in front of the other, he reminded himself. That’s all you need to do to move. One step at a time, no matter how small.

After a few more yards, they saw more and more mammoth pieces of the planet floating by the pillar. The ground had turned from the bright purple grass to a desolate white, dry land. The pieces were… surrounding the pillar. Guarding it.

They all stared up in awe until the pieces of the planet began to hurtle towards them. Meouch dived to the ground and grabbed his blaster. He shot the pieces and they exploded into a million smaller pieces and fell like confetti to the ground. He got up to one knee and took an internal roll of his crew.

Then, it felt like slow motion, a new piece flew toward Elzib. Meouch yelled out. He tried his blaster, and found he had run out of charges. He reached for his friend, he tossed an energy wall, but it got taken by the wind, and it was too late. The planet had rammed into Elzib, crumpling him from one side to the other like a disgusting game of dominoes, and left him crushed under it from the torso up.

Meouch cried out. Lord Phobos filled his brain with his screams, and Havve tried with all his might to get the rock off of Elzib, but they all knew that any attempt to save him was futile. Meouch, still, screamed “no” as he shot his empty blaster at the rock. He sank to his knees, and said, “Please.”

They sat on the ground in a circle with their backs to each other. They didn’t think. They just stared up at the yellow atmosphere and breathed through the static electricity.

Meouch stood. What’s past is past, he thought. “We have to finish this!” he yelled.

Phobos looked up at him. He nodded. Havve got up without a gesture and turned to the pillar.

GET FUCKED, PLANET.

As they passed through the final layer of fog to the pillar, the energy became almost unbearable. They grasped at their heads, their chests, each other – anything to ease the wild shocks that had overcome them. Finally, when the rolling wave passed down the pillar, they were able to move normally again, and they looked up.

Doc hovered, suspended in the air not too far above them. His chest, and therefore the core, were slightly pushed forward, so his arms and legs hung limp. Meouch thought maybe he was in pain, or even dead, because he was just… floating there.

DOC!

Meouch winced at Havve’s voice, it became almost human, with real hurt and concern in it. He had almost wailed.

Another energy wave approached and Lord Phobos scrambled to take off his jetpack.

here, havve, here! he said, haphazardly taking it off and putting it on Havve. get us up there!

Havve looked between Phobos and Meouch and grabbed them, sitting them on his biceps. They flew up and encountered the energy wave, and they found its effects were less the more altitude they gained, but still they involuntarily grasped at each other.

They hovered next to Doc. Lord Phobos leaned forward and touched his shoulder.

Doc had had better days.

His eye stayed wide open and his mouth was slightly agape, giving him a perpetually surprised expression. Meouch could have laughed, he’d seen so many variations of that on his face before, but what was different was that this look had an unsettling vacancy to it, and that an insidious purple had begun to make its way onto his cheeks, creeping upward.

Meouch heard a loud crack and looked up. Another energy wave had begun, but this one looked… wrong. It had a bright blue colouring. Lightning zapped out at all angles. It pulsated, blinding white to blue again.

“Uh… guys,” he said.

Lord Phobos and Havve looked up, and Meouch and Phobos tried to tug Doc away, they pulled and pulled but he stayed locked in his position. Meouch leaned forward and slapped Doc.

don’t do that!

“What do you mean _don’t do that_? DOC!” Meouch yelled.

oh, for fuck sake! DOC!

DOC.

The blue energy edged downward. Meouch could feel it in his hair, in his heart.

DOC! Lord Phobos pulled. REGENERATE!

A gasping breath, and Doctor Sung’s eye glazed over milky white, and he gathered his energy and shoved the trio out of the pillar.

Havve, Phobos, and Meouch all rolled on the ground and watched as the blue energy zapped red, orange, yellow – every colour of the rainbow – once it reached Doctor Sung. He levitated with his arms and legs out, flailing with a controlled wildness, and exploded into nothingness.

For the first time in a while, they heard absolutely nothing. Meouch rested his head on his arms and heaved. He looked up and the pillar no longer stood, a gigantic hole where it once struck.

Doctor Sung climbed out, his core brighter than ever, and Meouch saw the purple had left his face, and he dropped his head back onto his arm.

“Hey guys!” Doc said. “Sorry you had to see that.”


	7. home-home

Havve rushed up to him first and squeezed him. “Hey, big guy,” he said.

Lord Phobos hugged him next. He must had said something private to Doc, because he replied, “Me, too, bud.”

Meouch approached him last, and embraced him with a hand on his head. It felt good for him to be breathing, and for whatever purple stuff that had been on his face to be gone. “Don’t do that shit again, man,” Meouch said.

“Not in a billion years,” Doc said.

Meouch broke away and looked around for Elzib, but his body was nowhere to be found. “I lost a friend,” he said.

Doc nodded solemnly. “The planet does that,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

They all bowed their heads.

THE BEST WE CAN DO NOW IS GO HOME AND HOLD A SERVICE.

Meouch nodded. They made their way back to the ship, easier, now, as the planet wasn’t actively trying to murder them. As soon as they boarded, Lugo rolled up.

Meouch wondered if he knew what happened. _May I stay with you?_ Lugo asked.

“Who is this little fella?” Doc asked, immediately in love. He bent down and patted the matte ball with three fingers.

_I am Lugo, a personal assistant!_

“Lugo,” Doc said, “you may stay with us forever!”

“He was my friend’s,” Meouch said. “Elzib’s.”

Meouch looked at the piece of pink fabric draped over the back of the extra chair. He assumed captain and started up the ship.

He took them all home.

When they arrived home, their first order of business was to build a fire for their fallen friend. Elzib had only met Havve and Phobos for a little while, and the last while of his life had become tumultuous, and they had to honour him.

They held a small dinner in Elzib’s honour as well. “Elzib, I saved your life and you saved mine. Thank you,” Meouch said simply while toasting him.

That first night, Meouch took a plate and scooped it into the fire. He stoked it and stayed with it all night, ensuring the flame did not go out.

Doc joined him. He pulled up a folding chair next to the fire. Summer had rolled in, and the nights were cool.

They were silent for a while, but curiosity got the best of Meouch. “What was that, even?” he asked.

Doc looked over at him, feigning confusion. “What?” he asked.

“You know damn well what.”

Doc smiled. Meouch smiled. “That’s what has to happen to me,” Doc said, maybe a bit sadly. “It’s gonna have to happen in another few billion years, too.”

Meouch sighed. “Maybe tell us next time?” he asked. “Tell me next time you take shit from me, too.”

Doc shifted his gaze from the fire to Meouch’s face. “Who do you think contracted that smuggling job from you, honestly?” he asked. “Who else would need that specific core?”

“You bitch.”

Doc hit Meouch’s knee with the back of his hand, then shifted to leave. He saw Havve and Phobos coming outside with drinks, so he elected to stay sitting. Phobos and Havve pulled up more folding chairs, and the circle around the fire was complete.

i’m glad we don’t have to make a fire for you, doc, Phobos said while he handed out the drinks.

“Me, too,” Doc said.

WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? Havve asked.

“Scary. I implanted the core in my room late at night, and the next thing I knew I was home. Not this home, this is home-home” - Doc gestured to the yellow house, all the flowers and produce in the garden - “but _home_. And then I remember you guys. That’s it, and that’s why it was scary: I don’t remember much.”

WELL, WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE BACK.

The four clinked their bottles together and took a sip. They looked up at the rising smoke from the fire, and the stars peeking through.

OH, DOC.

“Yes, Havve?”

DO NOT LOOK IN YOUR ROOM YET.

**Author's Note:**

> this thing's been fun.  
> thanks.


End file.
